Did you know that, in the first half of the 20th Century, if you owned a fountain pen, you most likely wrote using a tiny little piece of Tasmania? Fountain pen tips were made of gold, but gold and its alloys are too soft to write with: the tip or nib wears too quickly and would be too expensive to replace. Osmiridium was the answer.
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The Corinna Goldfields
Gold was known in the northwest of Tasmania since at least James (Philosopher) Smith’s discovery in the Forth Valley near the modern-day Lake Cethana dam. None of the workings were on a large scale. It wasn’t until Harry Middleton’s discovery in Corinna in 1879 that the gold rush to the Pieman kicked off. It would eventually lead to the largest gold nugget ever found in Tasmania. Much of the area is still accessible to gold fossickers today.
Continue readingAlluvial gold part 2
In this second post on alluvial gold, I’ll go into other methods used traditionally (and nowadays) by prospectors: the cradle (or rocker box) and the sluice, as well as a modern invention, the highbanker.
Continue readingAlluvial gold part 1: gold panning
Are you interested in looking for alluvial gold? Did you know that most Tasmanian gold rushes and all but one of Tasmania’s great gold mines were found by prospectors originally following leads of alluvial gold? In this post I will briefly describe alluvial gold, and go into places you might go, where to do research, and link to some good videos on how to pan, if you’re just starting out.
Continue readingWeld River sapphires
Most people associate sapphires with Ceylon, Thailand, and Queensland, but did you know Tasmania has several areas where you can find them? There is even a dedicated Fossicking Area set aside just for sapphires and other gemstones.
Continue readingTasmanian goldfields – north east
This week I’m writing about an area that contains some of our earliest gold discoveries — the north-east. I will discuss a bit of history, linking to newspaper articles from the times of the original discoveries. I also go over places worth a try if you want to find some gold, and finally there’s a section on how I go about finding information by searching online resources. There is quite a bit of information in this post, so I recommend grabbing yourself a cuppa before you start!
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